Do you know what your fleet is costing you?

A senior fleet consultant in the United Kingdom once said: “Too many businesses have no idea of the total operating costs of their fleet.” How true is this for South Africa? 

We have companies developing leading fleet management information systems in South Africa that tell us their main markets are outside the country … So, for an audience with increasing awareness of technology, what is the problem? This consultant suggested: “Many businesses see their fleet as a necessary evil, and far too few seek to measure what their fleet is doing, compared with what the business is doing.”

Systems that consolidate the vast range of available expenditure and usage data are readily available in South Africa. They are inexpensive, available on purchase or rental options, and will certainly solve the measurement requirement.

Local suppliers of fleet cards, fleet management services and tracking systems are world class and provide quality data. The trick is for companies to use this data to their advantage.

Perhaps the difficulty with fleet information systems is the complexity of managing and analysing big volumes of data. However, these can be simplified by selecting key areas, such as fuel, kilometre usage and accident costs, and applying performance benchmarks. Performance reports can then be published using easy-to-read graphs and ratios.

In this excellent Fleet News article, our consultant went on to explain that companies should: “target the ‘real fleet issues’, assemble information, interpret knowledge, identify and prioritise issues, as well as plan to address, implement and measure outcomes”. It is also important to develop and apply best practice in the management of key areas.

Fleet management information systems are necessary to consolidate multiple costs, analyse expenditure, measure and report performance. As they say – you can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Visit www.fleetsolutions.co.za to find suppliers that are able to supply fleet management information systems.